Supervised learning, once the cornerstone of AI, faces challenges in complex fields like computer vision and natural language processing due to the scarcity and high labeling costs of data. Few-shot learning (FSL) offers a solution, allowing models to learn from minimal data by leveraging prior knowledge and meta-learning. FSL frameworks utilize concepts such as support and query sets, N-way K-shot tasks, and focus on generalizing from few samples. Key approaches to FSL include data-level augmentation, parameter-level optimization, metric and generative methods, and cross-modal techniques, each bringing unique strengths for adapting to new tasks. FSL variations include N-shot, one-shot, and zero-shot learning, each addressing different data constraints. Algorithms such as MAML, matching networks, and prototypical networks are central to FSL, enabling robust model training with limited samples. FSL's applications span diverse fields, from medical imaging to autonomous vehicles, providing crucial advancements in AI by enabling efficient learning with minimal labeled data.